Ashes to power
by Hydroc
Summary: Abyss destroyed? Hardly. This tells of what happens after Soul Caliber 3. There's only one character not in SC3, and he's from SC2. Be fair in judgement and all that. All charcters belong to Namco. Chapter five has just been added.
1. Chapter 1

A bright light. It was so beautiful. From afar, it seemed peaceful and still. As Abyss drew closer to it though, he could see that it was far from beautiful, or peaceful. It was a raging inferno. As Abyss fell into the fire, he could feel the very power of the plane he was banished to. As he landed on the desolate landscape, partly on fire, partly already burnt, he knew one thing. He had not been destroyed.

"No! This isn't happening! He destroyed me! I swear he destroyed me!" Abyss wailed, for Zasalamel was still the body, and still controlled it. Abyss took the opportunity in Zasalamel's weakened will, and he spoke with his true voice.

"Fool! Why would you want to be destroyed? You can rule the dimensions! Not even the gods could stand up to you!"

Abyss's face contorted into as sad as a face like his could get.

"I've lived long enough! I just want to die!"

"Idiot! What do you get from death?"

"Peace!"

At this point, Abyss forced his full will upon Zasalamel, and won control.

"Then I don't need you anymore..."

With that, Abyss reached into his torso ball, and using most of his remaining power, he pulled Zasalamel's soul from now Abyss's body.

"Your only use to me now is food!"

Abyss smiled wickedly, as he forced the now screaming soul of Zasalamel into his mouth, and devoured it.

After his meal, Abyss threw back his head and let out a peal of laughter that echoed across the fiery plains.

"He was a fool! That monk couldn't even destroy Soul Edge alone, only shatter it. So he thought he could destroy me, the offspring of both Soul Edge, and Soul Caliber?"

Abyss thought about that meddlesome monk with his staff.

"When I meet him again, I will make him wish his father had never fucked his mother, the little runt! Just the thought of him makes me want to destroy!"

At that time, Abyss thought of how he was going to get out of here. The Soul Edge part of him told him that this was a realm past the realms of the living and the dead. So how was it he was going to get out of here? He looked deep inside himself. Most of his Soul Caliber power had been summoned out when he fought the monk, although some did remain. He noticed a void in his Soul Edge power as well. His eyes glimmered as hope flooded into him.

Soul Edge had not been completed. There were still shards of it in the living world. If enough got together in one place, he could turn himself into power, flood the shards in the living world, and remake himself there. The problem would be he would lose all soul caliber power, so then he couldn't remake his body. Abyss tapped his chin. Maybe, since there was a power vacuum in the living world, he could draw on the soul edge fragments, open a portal himself, and come through that way. The only problem was that would require a lot of power, which he didn't have in his weakened state.

As he was thinking, the flames on the burning field in front of him started to take shape. Abyss cocked his head and watched, curious as to what they would form. The flames danced and danced, and eventually formed into a humanoid figure, that let out an inhuman scream. An evil smile formed on Abyss's face. "Ah yes, now I remember. I've heard about this plain. This is the home of Inferno." Abyss held up Irkalla. "I think I've found my source of power." It seemed like Inferno understood Abyss's intentions, for within its hands formed a blade of fire. The blade itself was a mockery of Soul Edge. "Time to die!" Shouted Abyss, creating a ball of energy and throwing it at Inferno. Dodging, Inferno reached Abyss within a second, swung its sword down, and stopped in mid-swing. Abyss had disappeared. Inferno realized its mistake in underestimating its opponent as it heard Abyss's laughter behind it, and felt his scythe go through it. As Inferno was falling, Abyss reached into it with his hand, and with all his strength, pulled Inferno's soul out, and devoured it. The plain groaned, as its master was destroyed. All the fires within the plain came into Abyss. He felt power, like he never had before, as he became a new being. As quickly as it had started, it ended. The plain of fire was now just a plain of ash, and Abyss sat there, power oozing from his body, and he waited.


	2. Chapter 2

Tira landed softly and silently inside the cathedral. The air was silent. It was different from when she left it. Looking around the room where she guessed the final battle had taken place, she looked for the body of Siegfried. It had to be around somewhere, since there were bloodstains on the ground, and as far as she knew it, her master didn't bleed. At that thought, she felt something was wrong. Where was her master anyway? Looking around the room, she saw what remained of nightmare, and howled in anguish, like a beast that has lost all will to live. The only thing there was an empty suit of azure armor.

She ran over to it, and started beating on it with both her fists. "No! No! No! No! That bastard couldn't have beaten you! You can't be dead!" As she said this, she heard a strange voice inside her head.

"Calm...down...you...wretched...little...girl." She stopped pounding on the armor and listened. Nothing, she heard nothing. She looked down at the armor and examined it. It was just that, armor, unmoving and certainly not alive. She cautiously put one of here hands on the armor, and the voice boomed in her skull.

"If you ever stop listening to me while I'm talking again, I'll skin you alive and devour your still-screaming soul!"

"Master, I was just trying to find out where the voice was coming from! I didn't know you were still alive!"

"And how am I supposed to know you didn't know it was me? This Armor has no eyes, you ignorant wench!" Tira whimpered at the insult. To an outsider, it would seem like Tira was talking to and was afraid of an empty suit of armor.

"Now listen up! Do you have any fragments of Soul Edge on you?"

Tira rummaged around in her pack with her remaining hand. "Dried meat, no... Couple of spinal columns...aha! Here it is!"

Tira held aloft a two-inch fragment of Soul Edge.

"Now, place it upon the armor."

Tira did so, and the fragment seemed to melt on contact, like butter in a hot frying pan. Tira was blasted back ten feet as evil energy swirled around the armor. Slowly, the energy took form and filled the armor. In less then a minute, what used to be empty armor was now a being filled the armor, with a huge and misshapen right armor. Reaching out into the air with its left armor, its phantom Soul Edge appeared in its hand. It then tossed its head back and left out an inhuman roar that echoed across the landscape...

Siegfried sat up with a start. His eyes were wide, and he was sweating buckets. As he panted heavily, a sharp pain on his chest made him clench his teeth. Looking down, he saw his whole torso was bandaged heavily. At that moment, it all came back to him, his journey, his discovery of the reanimated nightmare, the cathedral, and his fight with his unforgivable past.

"Hey there, you take it easy." A voice said to him. He looked up. It was at this time he managed to get a look of his surroundings. He was inside of a shallow, but tall cave. There were two figures, a man and a woman, sitting by a fire not fifteen feet away from him, and another figure at the edge of the cave. They were all oriental.

"Where...where am I?"

"Your someplace safe. You took a nasty wound there. Of course, you're lucky I showed up, or else your soul would probably be devoured now." the man said in a heavy accent.

"So...is he dead?"

"Who, Nightmare? Yes, I killed him. I didn't have to do much though. You really put up a fight."

"I failed then...I let him beat me..."

"Well, we can't win all the time. Besides, like I said, Nightmare couldn't even scratch me, he lost so much energy."

"It doesn't matter! He still defeated me! He could have been wielding Soul Edge by now...in my body!" Siegfreid yelled at the man.

At this, the man fell silent. The woman stood up, walked over to Siegfried, and stared him right in the eyes. She was very young, barely an adult, guessed Siegfried.

"Listen you! Kilik stopped both Nightmare and that thing that came after it! He could have left after that, but no, he stopped and helped you, and saved your life!" she said in perfect english.

"He shouldn't have. I should be dead." Siegfried muttered, lowering his head.

"Give me a break! You lost, big deal! You're alive, and that's what really counts!" The woman huffed and went back over to the fire.

"Losing is not the reason he believes he should be dead, dear Xianghua." The man at the edge of the cave spoke as he turned around and walked into the firelight. He was an old man, with a few scars on his wrinkled old face. He was dressed in robes that Siegfried could only guess were oriental monk robes.

"Forgive me Siegfried, we haven't been properly introduced. The young man there is Kilik, the young woman there is Xianghua, and I am called Edgemaster."

"How did you know my name?"

"I know a lot about you, Siegfried."

At this, Siegfried lowered his head and stared at the ground.

"Now, as I was saying, he doesn't wish he was dead because of the loss. It was what lead up to the loss."

"I still don't understand master." Kilik questioned.

"You fool! I was Nightmare! I rampaged across Europe and devoured all those souls! It was me!" Siegfried growled at the man. This new information shocked both Kilick and Xianghua, and they inched away from Siegfried slowly, not to his surprise.

The old man did surprise him however. He grasped Siegfried's chin and with surprising strength turned his head so he was staring into Edgemaster's eyes.

"It is true, you went after Soul Edge, and it is true you wielded it for power. You are human though. Siegfried, you were never Nightmare, never! You are not responsible for the deaths of all those people."

Maybe it was the calm, coolness of the cave. Maybe it was the heat and sound of the fire, or maybe it was the kindness and wisdom in the man's eyes, Siegfried didn't know, but for a few seconds, Siegfried believed Edgemaster, and a calm came over him. Then the weight of his sin came upon him again, and he shook his head.

"Where is my armor and sword?"

Edgemaster backed over to Kilik and Xianghua. "It is over at the edge of the cave mouth. I've managed to repair the gash in your armor, and purified it as well, so no evil residue is left."

Siegfried grunted as he got up, the pain in his chest making breathing hurt. He started to walk to the mouth of the cave when he heard Xianghua gasp. He looked at her, and saw that she had turned her head away and was blushing. Looking down, he realized he was naked. Feeling himself blush, he grabbed the blanket he had been under and wrapped it around his waist. Edgemaster laughed and tossed him his clothing. Siegfried turned and walked to the outside of the cave, with the parting shot, "You have a lot of things to re-learn Siegfried." from Edgemaster. Outside, Siegfried donned his clothing, his armor, and sheathed his sword. With his wound, it would be slow traveling, but he could manage. He poked his head into the cave though.

"Kilik..." he bit his lip, trying to form the words. "I know. Take care of yourself." came the response. With that, Siegfried turned from the cave and started descending the mountain.


	3. Chapter 3

On a horizontal rock face on Mt. Fuji, a shadow stood, surveying the land surrounding the sacred mountain. Standing on one leg, with the other one crossed over his waist, and his arms spread wide to the side, Yoshimitsu seemed out of place. It might be thought that it would be more appropriate to see Yoshimitsu in a freak show, but to the poor, to which he gave his spoils, and the tyrannical rich, from which he stole his spoils, he and the Manjitou were the most dangerous and daring "freaks" in Japan.

Standing out there in the cold mountain air, Yoshimitsu was meditating. He found that the heat from the inside of the volcano and the coolness of the mountains winds created the perfect blend, so that one could easily lose themselves in their own thoughts. This is what he had wanted to do. After the death of the vanguard, and the finding out that it was a servant of the cursed sword that had been the real perpetrator of that crime, he was worried. His Katana's spewing of evil energy had become the main source of evil energy he felt, meaning Soul Edge had somehow become inactive, or was weakened. Normally he would have been happy, except his intuition had told him otherwise. Misfortune had fallen him before when he let his guard down, and he had vowed never to let that happen again.

However, he couldn't think when there was someone watching him. Even on Mt. Fuji, his fortress, he was being watched from behind. He didn't know whether to be impressed with the intruder's stealth, or disappointed in his men's guarding abilities.

"Showeth thy self, for thy stealth doth not hideth ye from me."

With his words, his intruder stepped from the shadows. It was a young woman, dressed in a tight blue suit, wearing shoulder armor and a facemask. Her two blades were at her shoulder and her waist. She was obviously a ninja.

"Hmm, it seems you have more skill then I thought you would have."

"Thy flattery is appreciated, but thy presence is not. Speak of your business or go."

She frowned. Crossing her arms, she walked up to Yoshimitsu's side and glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Your have evil energy coming from you. "

"That would beith my sword. Infections from the cursed sword takeith a long time to heal."

She sighed. "My Master has fallen into the sway of Soul Edge."

"I pity thee's master, but what has't that to do with me?" His voice held no detectable pity in it.

She frowned again, and she narrowed her eyes at Yoshimitsu. "You must have realized that something has happened to Soul Edge."

"I have, but once again, what has that to do with me?" he asked, his face still looking at the landscape, or at least that's what it seemed with his mask on.

"Well, since Soul Edge is weakened, Toki's power has be lessened. With you and your men's help, we could defeat him and destroy his hold on my fellow clansmen."

As she had said this, she had turned to face him, her eyes full of resolve. It was hard for Yoshimitsu to answer her.

"I sympathize for you in your plight, but I cannot send my men to death for no reason except to help a lone ninja. My men and fortress can offer you shelter and guidance, but that is all they can offer."

At this, Yoshimitsu was throw off balance and was forced to put his second foot on the ground, as this female ninja had grabbed his collar and was shaking him back and forth.

"How can you say that? He's evil! He's looking for ways to replenish his power! If we don't attack now, we could be missing a chance to wipe a spot of evil of the face of earth forever!"

"You can shaketh me all ye like, but it won't change my decision. My men and strong, but they are not ninjas. They would be decimated, and I can't have another massacre on my hands."

The woman stopped shaking him, realizing that he spoke the truth. Taking her hands off his collar, she turned her back on him.

"I guess then I will have to take the Fu-ma clan on myself." She began to cast the spell of teleportation, when she felt an arm on her shoulder. Looking at it from the corner of her eyes, she blinked in surprise and lost her spell. The arm was wooden, but had gears turning on it and within it.

"When I attempted revenge by myself, I lost my arm. I would not have ye acquiring a fake limb be on my conscience."

She turned her head and was face-to-face Yoshimitsu. He could see she was a little surprised at how fast he moved. How little she really knew.

"I spoketh the truth. None of mine men shall aid you. However, I am not one of my men. I shall accompany you on your journey to rid the world of this foul human."

She smiled. She realized immediately that she had not smiled in a long time. This…Yoshimitsu, really did live up to his chivalrous tales. She stared into his mask's eyeholes, and didn't see the eyes of the demon that tyrants feared, or the eyes of the hero that all the oppressed cheered for. She saw the eyes of a man who was concerned for another person. She shook off his hold on her and turned her back on him again.

"Well, good choice. If you hadn't helped, I would have made you regret it."

"I'm sure."

With this, Taki humphed, annoyed.

"My name is Taki."

"Yes I know. Ye be the famous demon slayer."

She turned her head and looked at him questioningly.

He chuckled. "I know what happens all around the world. My men are everywhere. Speaking of me, I haven't introduced myself properly."

Drawing his katana, he slid his hand across it. With this, energy was released, and the sword glowed green, with crackling lightning running down its blade.

"Namu namu namu namu! I am, Yoshimitsu!"

With this, his blade dulled, and he sheathed it.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must prepare for our journey. We shall meet again here tomorrow night, when the moon is at its zenith.

As he turned to leave, he stopped in mid-stride.

"My men hath always wondered this. Do you wear what you wear to distract your male opponents?"

Taki put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "No, of course not! I wear what I wear so that nothing gets in my way while I fight!"

Yoshimitsu went to the ledges edge and chuckled.

Taki crossed her arms and continued glare at him as he started to spin his katana around above his head with his fake arm.

"I'm surprised I didn't catch you staring at them." She said as a parting shot as he started levitating.

"Starting is rude my dear Taki. I just glanced at them a lot."

Yoshimitsu cackled gleefully as he heard Taki growl at him, and with that, he flew down the mountain towards his lair's entrance. Taki was alone on top of the mountain.

"Men." She complained to no one. She then envisioned her temporary living space, and cast the spell of teleportation.

The wind blew quietly on the mountaintop. Its music was soft and quiet, beautiful and eerie, calm and peaceful. Yet conflict had come again, and the wind had lost is audience.


	4. Chapter 4

In Constantinople's busy streets, the day was going on normally. The sights and sounds and smells that lingered were common in the city square on a market day. Merchants were shouting to passer bys about their wares, beggars sat with arms stretched out and hands cupped, thieves stood against walls and looked for potential query, and everyone else had a place to go, a person to see, and a thing to buy.

This was the case with the two sisters, Cassandra and Sophitia, and Sophitia's children, Patroklos and Pyrrha. Traveling down the busy street, they were looking for someone. Not someone in particular, but a certain type of someone. In this case, they were looking for someone tough, and trust worthy.

"Sophitia, I still don't understand why you had to bring the children along."

"I already told you Cassandra. With that girl servant of Soul Edge still out and about, I don't trust my children being out of my sight." Sophitia said quickly as she reached out and pulled Pyrrha out of the way of a cart off to the side.

"Well, then we should get a room at an inn and deposit the kids so we can search more efficiently." Cassandra suggested as she lifted Patroklos out of the way of a bunch of thugs that looked like they didn't like children. "I highly doubt that the girl knows where we are."

"I don't want to take the chance that she does know, and leaving the children in an inn room alone would be playing right into her hands." She said irritably as she caught a pot that Pyrrha had taken off a stall and dropped accidentally. She then placed it back upon the stall and helped Cassandra pull a hyper Patroklos out of a booth filled with toys.

"Mom, I'm hungry! Can we get some food please?" Pyrrha pleaded, tugging on Sophitia's skirt.

"Alright, we'll stop at…that inn and get some food." Sophitia said as she pointed to a sign that showed the images of food and rest. "If we stop though, you two have to promise that you'll behave for the rest of the day" she insisted.

"We promise." The twins said in unison.

"Finally, a way we can get them to settle down." Cassnadra whispered into her sister's ear. "I'm feeling a little hungry too, and that place looks gre…" she stopped as the sisters saw a man fly through the inn's window and crash into a booth across the street. A war cry that sounded both human and animal followed. Men started streaming out of the inn, some on their own two feet, others carried by their friends.

Sophitia and Cassandra both drew their weapons and equipped their shields.

"Sophitia, stay here. I'll investigate what's going on." Cassandra shouted back to Sophitia as she ran into the ruined inside of the inn.

Tables, chairs, and groaning men were scattered everywhere. The sawdust was thick in the air from all the broken wood. In the center of the room, a huge figure stood. A huge weapon that looked like a mace was strapped to its back, accompanied by the skin of a lion. Horns grew out of the top of its head. Though it had normal colored skin, Cassandra wondered if it was human. She had heard tales of the golem Astaroth, the creation of Ares, the god of war. Though he didn't have an axe like it was said he had, he seemed to be the right size.

The huge figure turned to so that Cassandra could see its side.

"Does anyone else here want to make an insult at what I am wearing?" the man shouted to no one. From the side, Cassandra could see that the horns were part of the man's helmet. It was indeed a man, since Cassandra could see the huge Adam's apple upon his throat, and his chin was covered with whiskers. The sight of this man acting bold gave Cassandra a crazy idea.

"Excuse me sir, could I have a moment of your time?" she asked, standing on her tiptoes so he might see he better.

Turning to face her, the man walked over to her. She had to crane her neck up to look him straight in the face. At this view, Cassandra noticed that his chin had a lot of gray whiskers mixed in with the black ones. This man was probably over his prime. His rippling muscles showed that that really wasn't a concern.

"What do you want little one?" he asked, his deep voice booming straight at her, just enough to ruffle her hair.

"I was wondering if you would be interested in a job." He asked, her gaze never waving from his eyes.

"A job eh? What is this job?" he guaffed, pulling up one of the few unbroken chairs and sitting down. Even while sitting, his face was still higher then Cassandra's. This only strengthened Cassandra's resolve to hire him.

"Well, it all started when…" Cassandra began. She told him the whole story. She noticed that he had started paying more attention when she mentioned Soul Edge, and he really started paying attention when she mentioned the servant of the cursed sword.

"…and so now the children are endangered by this servant, who seeks to use them for unknown ends."

With this the giant slammed his hand down on a nearby table, breaking it in two.

"By the spirits, this girl wants to use children?" He stood up and looked down at Cassandra. "Do not worry, for you've just officially hired me."

"But you don't know what the job is!"

"It does not matter! A story such as that deserves to be honored, and I will honor it. Let me get my things." He then thundered up the stairs of the inn, shaking sawdust from the ceiling with the sound of his boots against the stairway.

Cassandra blinked in confusion. This man was at least certainly enthusiastic about the job. She just hoped that he didn't think he was going on some master quest to find soul edge.

"Hey lady, that man with you?" a voice floated over the bar. Cassandra looked over her shoulder. A man was shakily standing up from behind the bar. He was obviously a native, but he spoke very clearly.

"Hmm? Well, I guess he is now."

With this, the man jumped over the bar and got right up into Cassandra's face.

"Then I guess your going to tell me how I'm going to pay for this, right? Because you aren't going anywhere until I get payment for this! I've spent my entire life trying to make this bar into something, and in one day, some giant comes in, and rips this entire place apart with his bare hands and with my other customer's bodies! And the reason? Because some drunk made fun of what he was wearing!"

The man was fuming, but immediately stopped and calmed down as he saw that he was in a long shadow. Cassandra looked past him into the face of the huge man.

"Well, shall we go...um…I didn't catch your name…"

"The name is Rock."

Cassandra nodded and started to leave. Rock followed her, but half way, he stopped. Turning, he went over to the inn's owner and dropped a giant sack in front of him. As the bag hit the floor, its contents spilled out. The bag was filled with gold nuggets.

"This should pay for the damage I've caused." Turning, the rock finished following Cassandra out, listening to the whooping of joy coming from the inn owner.

Outside, Rock saw his employer meet with a woman he guessed was her sister, Sophitia. Beside her were her two children, each of them gaping up at him. Rock smiled as he remembered that Bangoo had gaped up at him when he first adopted him. Walking up to the small group, he stood behind Cassandra. Sophitia herself was surprised at his size.

"Well, I can tell from the look on your face that Rock is standing right behind me. As you can see, I think he's perfect for the job." Cassandra said smugly.

"Well, he certainly is big. Are you sure he's okay with the job?" Sophitia asked timidly.

"I don't know, he didn't care what the job was, so I waited for him to meet you so you can tell him." Cassandra smiled a fake sweet smile and moved out of the way. Sophitia narrowed her eyes at Cassandra in annoyance then turned to face Rock, but bit her lip in fear before she could say anything.

"Wow mister, your so big! How did you get to be so big?" Patroklos said in awe as he and Pyrrha were climbing up Rock's arms onto his shoulders.

"Patroklos! Pyrrha! Get off him this instant!"

"It's alright miss Sophitia. Bangoo climbed on me a lot when he was their age too." Rock said chuckling. "I got this big because I worked hard at becoming this big my boy." He said, answering Patroklos' question. "Now tell me the details of this job." He asked to Sophitia.

"Well…I want you to help guard my children. Not a month ago, a girl came to our town's temple and wanted to take my children away for unknown reasons. I thought it had to deal with Soul Edge, so I went out after Soul Edge to destroy it. Cassandra followed after me though, leaving my children vulnerable. It was then I realized Cassandra would accept being left behind, so we've had to take my children with us. Looking for Soul Edge with children is hard and dangerous though, so I'd like you to guard them while we search."

Rock nodded. "So you wish me to take them back to Greece and guard them there?"

"No no, they will stay with us. I just want you in the back ground so if we're attacked by bandits, or are forced to go into a scary looking temple or something, we can leave them with you outside." Sophitia said quickly.

Rock nodded again. "Alright, I'm fine with that. Bangoo will be proud of me for doing this."

"I'm sorry, but we won't be able to pay you until we go back to Greece." Sophitia added.

"I expect no payment." Rock said, shaking his head. "Every child deserves to grow up. Morales need not the temptation of a reward to be used."

Sophitia smiled. "Well thank you Rock. We will find a way to pay you back."

"Mom! I'm really hungry now!" Patroklos whined from on top of Rock's right shoulder.

"Alright, we'll get something to eat." Sophitia laughed.

"Know any place where we can get good food Rock?" Cassandra asked.

"In fact I do. Here, follow me." He grinned, turned, and started down the street, with his two new charges on his shoulders, and Cassandra and Sophitia following in his wake.


	5. Chapter 5

Setsuka was in a strange town in a strange land. This wasn't anything new though, as her travels had taken her to places she would have had not gone to for all the gold in the earth. However, she considered vengeance worth more then anything the world could produce material wise. Her master had showered her with gifts, but he was the only one she knew who actually loved her. Having the one person that mattered taken away was the most heinous crime anyone could commit. So she had set out to be HeishiroMitsurugi's judge, jury, and eventually, his executioner.

At the moment though, she had other thoughts on her mind. In the middle of the Holy Roman Empire, she was chasing rumors, and wasn't having very much success. It seemed like no one wanted to talk about Nightmare. They acted like just saying his name would bring him around to devour their souls. Since she couldn't find Nightmare, she couldn't find Mitsurugi. At least less people stared at her, and those that did stared because she wore her kimono, not because she didn't look Japanese.

She was in a small town called Wenig Stadt. It was a charming place. The houses were all painted and kept nicely, the streets were clean, and people smiled all the time. She was enjoying her stay so far, and even though she knew she was wasting valuable pursuing time, she was happy here. She could see herself living here if she became unhappy in Japan.

She might be happy here because she hadn't asked anyone about Nightmare. His name alone just seemed to bring unhappiness. That was why she was in the town's local watering hole. A lot of people here were a little bit tanked, and there were some that were full-blown drunk. This was her last full day in this place, and she would hate to end it on a sour note. So asking someone who might forget you ever asked them was the cleverest way of asking she could think of.

Someone was bothering her though. It wasn't those who she asked who gave nonsense answers, or those whose hand was a little bit too curious. It was a person in a brown cloak that sat alone at a corner table near the bar's doors. From the angle at which the person sat, they could see the entire bar, without moving their head. The person hadn't moved since she entered, and she was a little wary, since they could be watching her, and she wouldn't know.

Deciding to take a chance, she ordered two beers from the bar, grasped the glasses in one hand, and walked over the table. While walking over, she noticed the person didn't seem to acknowledge her. They also had a giant wrapped thing lying on the floor next to them. Putting down the beers on the table, and propping her umbrella, complete with her iaito, against the wall, she took a seat opposite the person, so that their view would mainly be her. "Hello stranger. You looked a little lonely, so I thought you could use a beer and some company."

Being talked to seemed to get the person's attention. "Thank you for your kindness, but I would prefer to be alone." The voice that came from the hood was deep and rough. This was, no doubt, a man. She smiled sweetly at him still, not willing to give up on him.

"You look like you need cheering up though. Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, my life is more screwed up then you could ever know." Came the gruff response.

"Well, then put it in a way I would understand." She said as she put her elbows on the table and supported her head with her hands.

"Recently, I went back to some old friends, but I didn't quite get the response that I thought I might get."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's just to bad."

Siegfried was starting to get annoyed with this woman. She had no idea what he was talking about. The Schwarzwind had attacked him on sight. He had left that fated battle so quickly, he didn't know that other members had killed family members, and they blamed him. He had to run from them, disrupting the wound on his chest. So here he was, in pain, with a woman who was too curious for her own good. She obviously wasn't from here, due to what she was wearing.

"Yes, it was to bad…" he said, reaching out with an arm, grabbing the glass of beer, and began draining.

Setsuka noted that his arm had armor covering it. "This man is a warrior it seems. He might know something after all." she thought. "Sir, I wanted to ask you something, but I don't know how to ask it." She said with the fake damsel voice. The man stopped in mid-swallow.

"Go ahead, ask it." He said, continuing to drink.

"Well, I was wondering if you had any information on a man named Nightmare."

At this, the man choked on his drink. Bringing the now empty glass onto the table, he slammed his chest with his now free hand. This made him cough and grunt in pain, and this really confused Setsuka. She noticed this whole time he was using his left hand, his right hand shaking slightly down at his side. He finally stopped coughing.

"Would you please get me another drink?" he asked her hoarsely.

She shrugged, picked up his glass, and went to the bar. She wondered why she hadn't given him her drink. A thought occurred to her. Why had he asked her to give him her drink? Sending her up to the bar would just be a waste of time. Time…

Turning around quickly, she saw that the man was already at the door, his large package under his arm.

"Hey!" she shouted at him. This only made him exit faster. Cursing under her breath, Setsuka grabbed her umbrella and ran out into the street after him. He was already far down the street.

Looking down at her shoes, Setsuka realized she could never run after him. At least she now had a lead. She would just have to follow him and bid her time.

Later that night, Siegfried sat outside of his tent. He had picked a spot away from town, but not to far away. The wound on his chest had re-opened, and he was trying to sew it back up. All he was succeeding at was causing himself more pain, and wasting thread. He hadn't sewn a day in his life.

The woman early had been on his mind recently. She obviously was someone after Nightmare, and he didn't want to fight in the bar. In fact, he never wanted to fight again. He was saddened that a woman would want to kill him. Who had he killed? Her Husband? Her son? He didn't want to know.

"You know, if you can't sew up a wound, you should learn how to. A untreated wound can lead to death." A voice said from behind him.

Dropping the needle and thread, he turned around and was on his feet instantly. It was the woman from before. She was standing there calmly, watching him. She noted she still had her umbrella with her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill me already." He said, his face downcast.

She looked at him questioningly. "Why would I want to do that?"

He turned a puzzled eye upon her. "Don't you think that I am Nightmare? Haven't I killed one of your loved ones?"

At this she burst out laughing. "First off, I don't think your Nightmare." She said, trying to control her laughter. "The Nightmare I've heard about wears blue armor, wields a big sword with an eye on it, and has a deformed right arm." She looked over at his sword, which was lying on the ground. She guessed that had been his package in the bar. "I see you wield a big sword, but that doesn't make you Nightmare. Second, Nightmare hasn't killed any of my family, so I wouldn't be on a quest to kill him, though I might if I met him."

With the reassurance that she wasn't out to kill him, Seigfried sat back down. The woman sat in front of him, again, and picked up the needle and thread he had dropped.

"Why is it that men don't know how to do the useful things in life? All they can do is kill, eat and sleep. I've even heard that most aren't even good in bed!" she complained to him as she stuck a branch into his mouth. He spit is out immediately.

"What was that for?"

"It's so that you don't bite part of your tongue off, now bite down on it." She countered as she stuffed it back into his mouth. He yielded to it and bit down. She then started sewing him up correctly. He was suddenly thankful she said had shoved the branch into his mouth, for he was biting down on it uncontrollably from the pain.

"At least you aren't fidgeting around. It seems you've been in pain before." Setsuka commented as she was about half way done. He was to busy biting to comment back. Finally, after what seemed hours to Siegfried, which in reality was only about five minutes, Setsuka had closed the wound, tied off the thread, and applied fresh bandages from Siegfried's pack around the wound.

"Well, there we go. Your lucky I decided to follow you. That wound looks really nasty." Setsuka said as she stood back up. "Now its time that you help me. I need some information on Nightmare."

"Well, the only thing I can tell you is that he's dead." Siegfried said reluctantly. "I didn't see his death with my own eyes, but the one who saved my life from him told me he killed him."

Setsuka looked at the ground with downcast eyes. Her only lead that could get her to Mitsurugi had died. Now, he could be anywhere, trying to challenge anyone. She sighed to herself. "Well, then do you know of anyone who was following him?"

Siegfried shook his head. "I spent most of my time running from Nightmare. I never tried to find out about anyone looking for Nightmare. They usually came to me and wanted to fight me."

Setsuka nodded dully and looked up at the sky. The moon was just starting to rise. It was a quarter moon. It's light was unusually strong. "Siegfried, it's a long walk back to the town. Do you have a spare tent I can borrow?" she asked him dryly.

Siegfried thought a moment. "No I don't, but you can sleep in my tent, and I'll sleep on the ground."

"In a few moments, you won't be sleeping on the ground, you'll be sleeping in it!" a voice said from the trees. Suddenly, Siegfried and Setsuka were surrounded by a bunch a rough looking young men. All of them looked really angry, and one of them, holding a spear, stepped up to Siegfried and slammed the butt of the spear into his forehead. Siegfried offered no resistance and fell to the ground.

"Look at you Siegfried, you're pathetic! Even though you're pathetic, for some reason, good things happen to you. You were always the leader, and you even get all the pretty girls." As he said this, he glanced at Setsuka, smiled cheekily, and then glared back down at Siegfried. "Your little attack cost me a father! We had to bury the bodies ourselves and had to listen as our mothers wondered where their husbands had disappeared." With that, he spit on Siegfried.

At this point, Setsuka knew that they both were in trouble, so she decided to take a gamble. "I wouldn't make him angry if I were you. He is Nightmare you know." She said timidly, try to act as if Siegfried scared her more then they did. The leader just laughed. "No he isn't. Nightmare recently attacked a town in southern France not two days ago. He couldn't have traveled this far." With this news, Setsuka's eyes brightened with joy, and Siegfried brightened with fear.

"Are you telling me Nightmare is alive?" Seigfried asked, his voice shaking. The man just laughed and hit Siegfried with his spear butt again.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying." He said, imitating Siegfried's shaky voice. "You won't have to worry though. He won't kill you, because you'll be dead before he can ever reach you." With this the man turned his spear around and stabbed down at Siegfried's face.

Within the next few seconds, a few things happened. As the spear point came down, Siegfried reached up and caught it in his gauntleted right hand. With his left hand, he reached over, grabbed his sword, and swung it so that flat of the blade connected with the leader straight in the ribs. This sent the leader flying sideways into a tree, with Siegfried still holding the now broken off spear point in his glove. He then stood up, threw the spear point away, and got in a fighting stance, holding his sword with two hands.

This show of fighting prowess intimidated the other men surrounding them, and they slowly backed away. "I've got a job to do, if nightmare still exists. I can't let myself die now." He glared at the men surrounding them. "Blame me, curse my name, hate me if you want. I don't care. Do not however, get in my way!" With this, the men disappeared into the darkness, and Setsuka heard their footsteps receding.

Setsuka then saw Siegfried proceeding to pack up the camp. "I don't have time to sleep, I must kill Nightmare and gain atonement for my past." He said to her, answering the question in her mind.

"Well, then I'm coming with you." She said defiantly. Siegfried turned around and stared into her eyes.

"Vengeance can be a dangerous thing. I suggest you give it up while you can."

She didn't know how he knew. He had probably guessed it from the questions she had asked him. She didn't care, for he had touched a subject that was her one weakness. She exploded on him, letting loose her anger and frustration that had been building up inside her for a long time. She called him things that would make the devil blush, and she drew up memories that she didn't even knew she had. Finally, after ten minutes of yelling, with him not even flinching, she finally stopped and started taking in some breaths.

"Feel better?" was Siegfried's response. This normally would have set her off again, but her voice hurt, so she just turned away from him and crossed her arms. He grunted as he lifted the now packed up camp onto his back, along with his sheathed sword. His chest plate of his armor he kept under his arm. She heard him start walking away. Turning around, and looking at him only through the corner of her eye, she started following him.

"We aren't going after him immediately." He said grimly. "There's something I have to get."

"Soul Caliber?" she asked nonchalantly. "No, that and Soul Edge have disappeared. I already checked." He said as he remembered making the stop at the cathedral to make sure the swords were there. "This weapon is a little more personal…"


End file.
